Laptop, router and channels

My 3COM router was set to 'Auto' for the channel to use. My Gericom
laptop, which uses Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200BG, was set to Channel 11.
Unfortunately they wouldn't connect like that and so I have had to set
the router to channel 11 - the router didn't seem to want to match the
laptop's choice and the laptop doesn't have an 'auto' setting (at least
not one I can find).

Is it possible to get the laptop to connect to the router with the
router set to 'Auto'? I would like to have the network set up to be as
flexible as possible.

--
F

(Beware of spam trap - remove the negative)

F <news@spinningweb.not.net> wrote in news:436e804a$0$63071$ed2e19e4@ptn-
nntp-reader04.plus.net:

> My 3COM router was set to 'Auto' for the channel to use. My Gericom
> laptop, which uses Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200BG, was set to Channel 11.
> Unfortunately they wouldn't connect like that and so I have had to set
> the router to channel 11 - the router didn't seem to want to match the
> laptop's choice and the laptop doesn't have an 'auto' setting (at least
> not one I can find).
>
> Is it possible to get the laptop to connect to the router with the
> router set to 'Auto'? I would like to have the network set up to be as
> flexible as possible.
>

Most people set the router and card to their choosing and don't let the
device dictate what is to happen. Leaving things in a default or
automatic state can lead to your wireless network being hacked.

The basics

http://netsecurity.about.com/cs/wire...aa112203_2.htm

Duane :)

On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 00:20:45 GMT, neillmassello@earthlink.net (Neill
Massello) wrote:

>F <news@spinningweb.not.net> wrote:
>
>> My 3COM router was set to 'Auto' for the channel to use. My Gericom
>> laptop, which uses Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200BG, was set to Channel 11.
>> Unfortunately they wouldn't connect like that and so I have had to set
>> the router to channel 11 - the router didn't seem to want to match the
>> laptop's choice and the laptop doesn't have an 'auto' setting (at least
>> not one I can find).
>>
>> Is it possible to get the laptop to connect to the router with the
>> router set to 'Auto'? I would like to have the network set up to be as
>> flexible as possible.

>A wireless client isn't supposed to pick its network by channel but by
>name (SSID). I suspect you may be creating an ad-hoc network on your
>laptop. This is not the way to connect to a managed (or "infrastructure"
>or "base station") wireless network.

Agreed. Methinks the Intel Pro 2200BG is incorrectly setup for Ad-Hoc
instead of Infrastructure.

>Unless you really need a fixed channel, such as for WDS, letting the
>access point choose its channel automatically is usually the best
>choice, as it allows the AP to pick a channel that minimizes
>interference from other APs or RF sources.

Have you ever actually tried "auto" on a busy network? I have, with a
Dlink DI-624 rev c1 v2.70 and was rather disgusted. What seems to
happen (not sure) is that the AP uses the "noise level" to trigger a
channel change. If the noise level is relatively high on all
channels, the stupid access point will hop around every 30 seconds or
so. That normally wouldn't be a problem if the clients were smart
enough to follow the access point, but they're not. Intel Proset was
fairly fast, but most took forever to realize that the access point
has disappeared and finally decide to scan for a suitable connection.
If the client is XP SP2 using Wireless Zero Config in the default "use
any available connection" mode, it will often reconnect to someone
elses access point. I've dealt with customers claim that their
wireless clients will "jump" to a different access point without
provocation. Investigation usually (not always) leads to an access
point set to auto channel selection. I'm not a big fan of auto
channel selection in its current implimentation although I can see
where it might be useful.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On 07/11/2005 00:20 Neill Massello wrote:

> A wireless client isn't supposed to pick its network by channel but by
> name (SSID). I suspect you may be creating an ad-hoc network on your
> laptop. This is not the way to connect to a managed (or "infrastructure"
> or "base station") wireless network.

Hi. Thanks for the response.

From memory - I looked at a lot of menus when trying to sort this out -
I rejected the ad-hoc choices. Perhaps the laptop, in its infinite
wisdom, decided ad-hoc was the way to go!

I haven't got access to it at the moment but I'll check later.

--
F

(Beware of spam trap - remove the negative)

On 07/11/2005 02:46 Jeff Liebermann wrote:

> Agreed. Methinks the Intel Pro 2200BG is incorrectly setup for Ad-Hoc
> instead of Infrastructure.

Any advice on how to move it to Infrastructure?

--
F

(Beware of spam trap - remove the negative)

On Tue, 08 Nov 2005 11:59:32 +0000, F <news@spinningweb.not.net>
wrote:

>On 07/11/2005 02:46 Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>
>> Agreed. Methinks the Intel Pro 2200BG is incorrectly setup for Ad-Hoc
>> instead of Infrastructure.
>
>Any advice on how to move it to Infrastructure?

Intel Pro 2000BG page with lots of reading material:
| http://support.intel.com/support/wir...00bg/index.htm

Intel Proset Users Guides:
| http://support.intel.com/support/wir.../cs-008179.htm

What you probably have:
| http://support.intel.com/support/wir...de90/index.htm
There is little mentioned about ad-hoc networks. I'm *GUESSING* that
you have somehow set it up as an ad-hoc client because that's the only
condition by which you can select the channel number on the client.
The first settings on profiles:
| http://support.intel.com/support/wir...0/profiles.htm
(see picture) shows the check boxes for infrastructure and ad-hoc.
Wipe the profile, start over, create a new profile, use
infrastructure, and it should play.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558